One of the two men who died when a sport-fishing vessel sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island is a Calgary father, according to a family friend.
Heather Kachowski Harke said one of the men who died was Alvin Beckley, a husband to his wife, Jacqui, and father of three from Calgary. She said he was an apprentice electrician who was working in B.C. for several months.
A photo of Alvin Beckley on a GoFundMe page. A family friend has identified Beckley as one of two people who died when a sport-fishing vessel sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island on Sunday.
CREDIT: https://杭州夜生活gofundme杭州桑拿/BeckleyFamily
Beckley’s brother-in-law says Alvin wasn’t actually a big fan of fishing but likely didn’t want to pass up a chance to join his co-workers for a day on the ocean.
“I don’t know that he necessarily fished often but he was in Tofino and you definitely want to do that when you’re there,” Mike Provost said on Wednesday.
“He was in Tofino so you’ve got to get out and catch some big fish. They had Sunday off and they decided to go fishing as a group to go and enjoy themselves.”
Beckley was originally from Sierra Leone, but grew up in Alberta with his parents.
Watch below: Two fathers died when the boat they were fishing on went down near Tofino. Between the two fathers, they leave behind five children. Nancy Hixt filed this report on May 2, 2017.
“It’s been tough for sure. He’s got three little girls and it’s been a lot of tears and sadness, but also a lot of good fond memories,” Provost said. “It’s always good to reflect on the good times.
“He would always find a funny perspective and kind of crack a lot of jokes. It was always happy times with him. He was a loving father and a great husband.”
According to Provost, Beckley was diagnosed with diabetes a number of years ago and complications with the disease had kept him from being steadily employed over the last few years.
Harke has started a GoFundMe page for Beckley’s family, saying, “the tragic accident has left their family understandably devastated and uncertain of their financial future as Alvin was their sole provider.”
“It’s for the girls especially,” Provost said. “Alvin having diabetes and (being) the primary provider for the family … they had been having some struggles over the past little while in relation to that. They were just kind of getting back on their feet. The girls will need a lot of support.”
The second victim has been identified by family as Michael Cutler, who was born and raised in Halifax, but stayed in Lethbridge while working out west.
Michael Cutler was one of two men who died when a sport-fishing vessel sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Supplied to Global News
Michael Cutler was one of two men who died when a sport-fishing vessel sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Supplied to Global News
Michael Cutler was one of two men who died when a sport-fishing vessel sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Supplied to Global News
Michael Cutler was one of two men who died when a sport-fishing vessel sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Supplied to Global News
Cutler’s fundraising page requests help to bring his body back to the east coast.
“Mike was a loving friend, musician and one hell of an electrician. Although Mike is no longer with us, I guarantee nobody will forget his loving smile, constant jabs and sarcasm,” the page reads.
“Mike left behind two boys, Morgan (17) and Mackenzie (15) who need our support now more than ever.”
Beckley and Cutler died when a boat with five people on board took on water and overturned.
The RCMP have not confirmed the identities of the men who died or where they are from.
While Harke said Beckley was from Calgary, Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne said both of the victims were from Edmonton.
Staff Sgt. Annie Linteau said Tofino RCMP are investigating the capsizing of the 8.4-metre vessel Sunday in waters northwest of Bartlett Island near Tofino, a popular Vancouver Island tourist destination.
“We can confirm right now there were five men on board the vessel when it took on water and capsized,” she said. “Other sports vessels in the area rendered assistance in rescuing the people in the water. The Canadian Coast Guard personnel provided life-saving measures.”
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is now also investigating.
READ MORE: TSB sends investigators to scene of boat sinking
“We don’t have a lot of answers at this current time. There are still investigations going on,” Provost said.
“Eventually we will get to speak with the surviving members. I’m sure it was extremely tough for everybody involved in that whole scenario. We will get some more answers and clarity in the coming days for sure.”
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria said it received a distress call from someone on the boat at about 1:20 p.m. on Sunday.
Watch below: Did weather play a role in Sunday fishing boat accident near Tofino?
Coast guard rescue boats, a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter and a plane from Canadian Forces Base Comox were all dispatched to look for those who were thrown into the water, and a broadcast was put out asking marine vessels in the area to help in the search, Sub-Lt. Melissa Kia said Sunday.
Two commercial float planes also responded to the call for help and one of them spotted the people in the water and directed rescuers to the location, she said.
Osborne said the incident has shaken the community of about 1,800 residents.
“Everybody’s understandably concerned and a bit shaken up,” she said. “Of course we’re a very small and tight-knit community and news travels really fast. There’s a lot of concern for the friends and families of the victims and survivors.”
Osborne said the fish boat incident happened in an area where the whale watching vessel Leviathan II capsized in October 2015, resulting in six deaths when 27 people were dumped into the water.
The TSB has yet to complete its investigation into the cause of the Leviathan II incident, but investigators said shortly after the tragedy that passengers had been standing on one side of the top deck when a wave hit the opposite side of the vessel.
“It is fairly close to where the Leviathan II went down,” said Osborne. “It’s the outside of Clayoquot Sound facing the open ocean. It’s in an area where a lot of whale watching guides and fishing guides are very familiar with.”
Linteau said the RCMP is continuing its investigation into the cause of accident.
Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she suspects President Donald Trump‘s campaign gave guidance to Russian government propaganda efforts during last year’s U.S. presidential campaign, leveling her most serious charge yet against the person who defeated her.
The former Democratic presidential candidate, appearing at a tech conference near Los Angeles, said propaganda spread on sites such as Facebook helped cost her the election, and she urged Silicon Valley firms to move faster to stop false stories.
Trump has said that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.
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Echoing assessments of U.S. intelligence agencies, Clinton said the Russian government wanted to spread disinformation about her. But she added they “could not have known how best to weaponize that information unless they had been guided.”
“Guided by Americans?” asked Walt Mossberg, a technology journalist interviewing Clinton on stage.
“Guided by Americans and guided by people who have polling and data,” Clinton responded.
READ MORE: White House says it will no longer comment on Russia probe
She was pressed by another journalist on stage, Kara Swisher, who asked: “But you’re leaning Trump?”
“Yes, I think it’s pretty hard not to,” Clinton said. She said there had been a “marriage” of people who spread false stories with Republicans who had detailed voter data.
It appeared to be the first time Clinton had accused Trump of collusion with Russians. Earlier this month, she blamed Russian hackers and then-FBI Director James Comey for costing her the election.
In this April 20, 2017 file photo, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks in New York.
Kevin Hagen/AP
The White House on Wednesday referred questions about Russia to Trump’s outside counsel, Marc Kasowitz. He could not immediately be reached.
Later in her appearance on Wednesday, Clinton slammed Trump’s ability to create distractions using 杭州桑拿会所. “It’s the circus, right? It’s what a classic authoritarian does,” she said.
Trump’s administration has been dogged in its first months by allegations his associates had inappropriate contacts with Russian government officials. A special counsel, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, was appointed to lead an investigation after Trump fired Comey. Moscow has denied meddling in the U.S. election.
‘Hurry up’
Clinton mentioned Facebook by name, saying the social media network was flooded with false information about her and that people were understandably misled. She said she would like to see Facebook curate its network more aggressively.
“I have a lot of sympathy at this point… for people trying to make these decisions. I would just urge them to hurry up,” she said.
READ MORE: Former Trump adviser Michael Flynn agrees to provide documents to Russia-election probe
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in November it was “crazy” to think that fake news on the site had influenced the election. Beginning in December, Facebook began introducing tools to try to prevent fake news stories from spreading.
Clinton said that in targeting voters online, she was at a disadvantage to Trump because the Republican Party provided him with an extensive database, through an organization called the Data Trust, that Democrats did not have.
“I inherited nothing from the Democratic Party. I mean, it was bankrupt. It was on the verge of insolvency,” Clinton said. “Its data was mediocre to poor, nonexistent, wrong. I had to inject money into it, the DNC, to keep it going.”
Flood waters are continuing to threaten hundreds of homes in Rigaud and Mayor Hans Gruenwald Jr. says about 400 residences could be affected.
Thirty-one families have had to evacuate their homes and are being helped by family, friends and the Red Cross.
He is urging residents living near the Ottawa river to leave before the situation worsens.
“We really would like people to take up our offer. We will feed them and house them and even offer psychological help because we know it is getting stressful,” said Gruenwald Jr. Tuesday evening.
Rising water levels have pushed hundreds of residents living near the Rigaud and Ottawa rivers out of their homes over the last few weeks.
Gruenwald says river levels have risen by eight centimetres in the past two weeks and are expected to climb another five to seven centimetres.
He says that means water could start entering homes through basement windows.
Eight gates open at the Hydro dam in Pointe-Fortune to release water pressure, Tuesday, May 2, 2017.
Dorothy Sabourin
“It’s terrible. I’m so discouraged, It is worse than last week,” Claude De la Fontaine told Global News.
He has decided not to leave his home again unless officials insist he leaves.
“We just keep putting the sandbags in place, but for now they aren’t working. This is the worse I’ve ever seen it,” said De la Fontaine.
More rain is expected for the region throughout the end of the week.
WINNIPEG – It was supposed to be the Winnipeg Wesmen baseball team’s year end party on Tuesday, but they didn’t have any reason to celebrate after just learning their team was cut by the university.
“I was devastated.” said Wesmen catcher Kyle Becker. “I didn’t see it coming. We were all getting pumped up for next year and then we just got told we got canned, so it’s rough. It’s hard for us.”
“It hit me hard because I’m going into my senior year.” said pitcher Tyler Moskalyk.
“Next year we were supposed to have a big year and I just feel like it’s been ripped out from us.”
The University of Winnipeg announced they were eliminating three teams effective immediately. In addition to the men’s baseball team, the men’s and women’s wrestling programs were chopped, while the men’s soccer team has been put on hold for next season.
RELATED: University of Winnipeg cuts wrestling, baseball teams in effort to balance budget
For the university it came down to academics over athletics in their cost-cutting measures. In the end it was the most recent teams that got the axe.
“We wanted to, as much as possible, preserve academics excellence and support for students.” said Chris Minaker, the universities senior executive officer.
“This is a financial decision, eliminating the teams will yield approximately $400,000.”
Wesmen head coach Morgan de Pena was shocked when he was informed of the decision and he spent the day dealing with angry parents.
“We got kids from across the country and now they’re asking me, and their parents are asking me what are we going to do ? Where is he going to school ? What happens now ? Is there a way of fighting this ? I don’t know all the answers.” de Pena said.
What’s even more confusing for de Pena is he says the team was completely self-sustaining and didn’t receive funding from the school, coming up with their own cash to cover their $130,000 a year budget.
“We’re not an expense so I’m caught off guard as to why we’re done.” said de Pena. “We raised all of our own money. The players pay a player fee of $3,500 per player and we also fundraised.”
But according to the University of Winnipeg they put $21,000 into the baseball team this season.
“The intent was, I think to have it be completely self-sustaining.” said Minaker. “In reality, it wasn’t quite and it was an expense and therefore it was eliminated.”
“I wish they would have approached me about that.” de Pena said. “If there had been any cost, the university should have informed us that there was expenses out there. We would have made restitution for that.”
Just a couple days ago the Wesmen were only one win away from their first ever berth in the conference tournament, but now players are left wondering where or if they’ll be playing.
“Probably just stay home, call it a career.” Becker said.
“I pitched my last inning this weekend and I didn’t even know I was, so I didn’t even get to appreciate it.” said Moskalyk.
Despite eliminating the three teams, the school says they will honour all existing scholarships. But that won’t help players on the baseball team as they weren’t playing on scholarships.
The U.S. Justice Department has decided not to charge two white Baton Rouge police officers in the death of a black man whose fatal shooting was captured on cellphone video, fueling protests in Louisiana’s capital and beyond, The Associated Press has learned.
Federal authorities opened a civil rights investigation immediately after the July 2016 police shooting that killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling outside a convenience store where he was selling homemade CDs.
A person familiar with the decision disclosed it to the AP on Tuesday. The person was not authorized to talk publicly about the decision and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
In reference to recent media reports, there has been no official statement from the USDOJ. Our office will not comment until that time.
— AG Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry) May 2, 2017
The department’s decision doesn’t preclude state authorities from conducting their own investigation and pursuing their own criminal charges.
Two cellphone videos of Sterling’s deadly struggle with two white officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, quickly spread on social media after the July 5 shooting.
WATCH: Officers involved in Alton Sterling shooting identified
A police report says Sterling was initially jolted with a stun gun after he didn’t comply with the officers’ commands to put his hands on the hood of a car. The report also says the officers saw the butt of a gun in one of Sterling’s pants pockets and saw him try to reach for it before he was shot.
Justin Bamberg, an attorney for some of Sterling’s relatives, has said the family wanted an indictment.
READ MORE: Coroner: Judge has sealed Alton Sterling’s autopsy report
Bamberg also represents relatives of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was running from a traffic stop in Charleston, South Carolina, when a white police officer shot and killed him in 2015. The former officer, 35-year-old Michael Slager, pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges on Tuesday, five months after a jury deadlocked on state murder charges against him.
In Baton Rouge last summer, police arrested nearly 200 protesters following Sterling’s death, which occurred a day before another black man was killed by police in Minnesota.
Racial tensions in Baton Rouge were simmering when a black military veteran from Missouri ambushed and killed three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers and wounded three others before being shot dead on July 17. The city was still reeling from the shootings when August floodwaters damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes in the area.
WATCH: Security expert weighs in on Alton Sterling shooting
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards immediately asked for a federal investigation of Sterling’s death. He called cellphone video of the incident “disturbing, to say the least.”
The videos show Sterling scuffling with Salamoni and Lake after they responded to a caller’s complaint that Sterling had threatened the caller with a gun outside the Triple S Food Mart.
The two officers had Sterling pinned on his back when gunfire erupted, moments after someone yelled, “He’s got a gun!”
Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. has said Sterling was armed but didn’t specify the type of weapon. The store’s owner, Abdullah Muflahi, has said Sterling wasn’t holding a gun during the shooting but he saw officers remove one from his pocket afterward.
WATCH: Lawyers for Alton Sterling’s family to uncover history of racial profiling by Baton Rouge police
As a convicted felon, Sterling couldn’t legally carry a gun. Court records show Sterling had pleaded guilty in 2011 to being a felon in possession of a firearm and illegally carrying a weapon and was arrested in May 2009 after an officer confronted him outside another store where he was selling CDs.
In the shooting’s aftermath, Dabadie called the encounter a “horrible tragedy.”
Police have said they have dashcam and bodycam video and store surveillance footage of the shooting, though none of it has been released. A federal judge sealed a coroner’s report on Sterling’s autopsy.
Both officers were placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure. Salamoni has been a Baton Rouge police officer for four years; Lake had been on the force for three years. Each had two prior “use of force” complaints against them, and they were cleared in all four of those cases, internal affairs records indicate.
East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore recused himself from any state criminal investigation into Sterling’s death, citing his professional relationship with Salamoni’s parents. Salamoni’s father, Noel Salamoni, is a Baton Rouge police captain. His mother, Melissa Salamoni, retired as a Baton Rouge police captain last June after 32 years on the force.
READ MORE: The woman in the dress: The story behind the ‘iconic’ Black Lives Matter protest photo
Moore’s recusal left Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to decide whether to have his own office review evidence for possible state charges or to appoint another district attorney to take over the case.
Landry has said he wouldn’t have access to the federal investigation on Sterling’s shooting until it was completed.
Landry said in a July 11 statement that his office trusts the federal government to investigate the case and looks forward to “fulfilling our responsibilities” after getting the results of the federal investigation.
Bamberg, the attorney for some of Sterling’s relatives, urged Landry in July to “fight for justice” in the case and expressed hope that the attorney general’s office “one day” will get involved.
The mass arrests of people protesting Sterling’s death led to federal lawsuits accusing police of using excessive force and violating protesters’ civil rights. Gov. Edwards, who comes from a family of sheriffs, has said he was pleased with the police response to the protests and defended their deployment of riot gear and weaponry.
Former acting attorney general Sally Yates is expected to testify to Congress next week that she expressed alarm to the White House about President Donald Trump‘s national security adviser’s contacts with the Russian ambassador, which could contradict how the administration has characterized her counsel.
Yates on Monday is expected to recount her Jan. 26 conversation about Michael Flynn and to say that she was concerned by discrepancies between the administration’s public statements on his contacts with ambassador Sergey Kislyak and what really transpired, according to a person familiar with that discussion and knowledgeable about Yates’s plans for her testimony.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt the testimony.
READ MORE: Donald Trump’s former adviser Michael Flynn was warned in 2014 not to take foreign payments
Yates is expected to say that she told White House counsel Don McGahn that she believed Flynn’s communications with Kislyak could leave Flynn in a compromised position because of the contradictions between the public depictions of the calls and what intelligence officials knew to be true, the person said.
White House officials have said publicly that Yates merely wanted to give them a “heads-up” about Flynn’s Russian contacts, but Yates is likely to testify that she approached the White House with alarm, according to the person.
WATCH: Michael Flynn seek immunity if he testifies before Russia probe
“So just to be clear, the acting attorney general informed the White House counsel that they wanted to give a ‘heads up’ to us on some comments that may have seemed in conflict with what he had sent the Vice President out in particular,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at a Feb. 14 press briefing.
Flynn resigned in February after published reports detailed Yates’s conversation with the White House. White House officials initially maintained that Flynn had not discussed Russian sanctions with Kislyak during the transition period, but after news reports said the opposite, they then admitted that he had misled them about the nature of that call.
READ MORE: Former Donald Trump adviser Michael Flynn likely broke law with Russia trip, House committee says
“The issue, pure and simple, came down to a matter of trust,” Spicer told reporters.
Flynn was in frequent contact with Kislyak on the day the Obama administration slapped sanctions on Russia for election-related hacking, as well as at other times during the transition period, a U.S. official has said.
Yates’s scheduled appearance before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, alongside former national intelligence director James Clapper, will provide her first public account of the conversation with the White House. It will also represent her first testimony before Congress since Yates, an Obama administration holdover, was fired in January for refusing to defend Trump’s travel ban.
She was previously scheduled to appear in March before a House committee investigating Russian interference in the presidential election, but that hearing was canceled.
In the past two years, B.C. residents have found themselves having to dig into their pockets for an extra $5 if they want to buy a 24-case of Lucky Lager.
They’re paying more for a litany of other boozy drinks, too.
That’s according to a report from an unidentified consultant that was released by BC NDP candidate David Eby on Monday.
The study looked at 156 randomly-selected alcoholic drinks as part of its study.
It found that 153 products saw price hikes of anywhere between one and 64 per cent, while just two saw their prices go down.
Glenlivet Archive 21-Year-Old Scotch Whisky saw the most dramatic price hike, going from a pre-tax cost of $173.90 in 2015 to $285.99 this year.
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Meanwhile, the pre-tax cost for a 24-pack of Lucky Lager was $30.43 in 2015. This year, it’s $33.99.
Add in sales taxes of 15 per cent, and the after-tax cost went from $34.99 to $39.09 in two years.
READ MORE: New B.C. liquor laws come into effect today
These pricing changes have come at the same time as a new liquor pricing model came into effect in B.C. in 2015.
The report said that the pricing model was intended to keep prices “the same.”
But that’s not happening, according to the study.
While liquor prices have gone up, government revenues from the Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) have grown from $935.2 million in the fiscal year ended March 2015 to $1.03 billion in the following year.
Wine and sparkling wine are shown on display at a B.C. liquor store in Vancouver, Friday, Dec. 19, 2008.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
“It’s a very clear relationship between higher prices and more revenue to government,” Eby told Global News.
“This is a hidden beer tax, that’s all it is.”
Meanwhile, industry operators say they haven’t exactly seen a windfall since 2015.
“We’re not making any more than we were two years ago, individual government stores aren’t making any more money than they were two years ago,” said Jeff Guignard of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees.
READ MORE: B.C. Liquor Stores could be targets for money laundering
For her part, BC Liberal Leader Christy Clark laughed off the study’s findings at a Tuesday news conference.
“You know, the NDP reports are probably about as reliable as their platform,” she said.
The consultant’s report noted that it’s “not possible to definitively conclude that the price increases were a direct result of the new liquor pricing model.”
But there’s no doubt that, for many products people can find in a B.C. liquor store, they’re having to fork out more than they were used to just a couple of years ago.
Help us celebrate a great milestone by sending us photos of your Canadian centennial memorabilia!
Canada is turning the big 150, and Global News is celebrating the milestone with exclusive coverage and special interactive features.
READ MORE: Global News celebrates 150 years of Canada
To celebrate 150 years of Canada, we need your help looking back at Canada’s last big birthday — Canada’s centennial in 1967.
The Canadian centennial was a year-long celebration in 1967 marking 100 years since Canada’s Confederation. The year was celebrated with special events, infrastructure projects, and of course, commemorative merchandise.
RELATED: New Canadian $10 bills issued for Canada’s 150th birthday
From lapel pins to tableware, silver dollars to scarves, there’s likely a piece of vintage Centennial Canadiana tucked away in a closet — or maybe occupying a prominent spot in the living room. And we want to see it!
Scroll down for a sampling of submissions so far. We’ll be accepting submissions until May 15.
View this post on Instagram
Here are some of the great photos sent to us featuring Centennial memorabilia – from 1967, the country’s last big birthday. Send in your photos soon to [email protected]杭州夜网 or tag them #Can100Swag. You could be featured in our #canada150🇨🇦 coverage! (📷Credits: Jil McIntosh, Sharon Jarymy, Caron Wood, Phyllis Thomas-Court) #Can100Swag #centennial #canada #canada150 #canadaday
A post shared by GlobalNews (@globalnews) on May 8, 2017 at 9:52am PDT
A plate from 1967 that my mother bought … #Can100Swag pic.twitter杭州桑拿/Ml2DIruLvl
— Jil McIntosh (@JilMcIntosh) May 5, 2017
#can100swag pic.twitter杭州桑拿/TTBOdQMymK
— U-boat Captain DS (@Dshep48Shepherd) May 4, 2017
Send us photos of memorabilia, souvenirs and swag that marked Canada’s 100th birthday. You can upload your photos to Facebook, 杭州桑拿会所 or Instagram and use the hashtag #Can100Swag, or email us your photo at [email protected]杭州夜网. Your submission may be used in Global News coverage.
An FBI employee went rogue, reportedly travelling to Syria to marry the man she was investigating.
Daniela Greene, 38, was a translator with top-secret clearance in Detroit, CNN reports. According to unsealed FBI documents, she began investigating German Denis Cusper, a rapper who became an Islamic State recruiter in January 2014.
Cusper, identified in the documents only as Individual A, had appeared in promotional videos where he praised Osama bin Laden, and threatened former president Barack Obama. Before becoming a recruiter, he was known as Deso Dogg, once opening for DMX.
During her investigation, the documents say she fell in love with Cusper. She then told the FBI she was travelling to Germany to see her family, but instead, snuck off to Syria.
She then told Cusper, “The FBI had an open investigation into his activities,” according to court records also obtained by USA Today.
But only a few weeks into her marriage, she had a change of heart, and returned to the U.S. to confess her crimes.
In December 2014, she pleaded guilty to making a false statement involving international terrorism, and spent two years in jail.
Despite calling her conduct “egregious,” and saying she deserved a “severe punishment,” prosecutors agreed to give her a lighter sentence because of her co-operation. CNN reports that longer sentences have been given to people who hadn’t even made it to Syria.
READ MORE: U.S. forces kill ISIS militant linked to New Year’s Eve attack on Turkish nightclub
The court records were kept secret, but quietly unsealed in May 2015. They were only uncovered by CNN recently.
“Daniela is a smart but naïve woman who got into something that was way over her head,” lawyer Shawn Moore told the Detroit Free Press.
Greene told CNN she was afraid of discussing the case publicly: “If I talk to you, my family will be in danger.”
The FBI said Greene’s case forced them to take steps to “identify and reduce security vulnerabilities. The FBI continues to strengthen protective measures in carrying out its vital work,” according to CNN.
Closing four Saskatchewan circuit court points could lead to more expensive travel and court proceeding delays, according to the province’s trial lawyers association’s president.
In April, the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court decided that circuit court points will close this year in Watrous, Carnduff, Big River and Southey. Judges travel to circuit court points to hold proceedings in communities that do not have a permanent provincial court office.
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This week, the Saskatchewan Trial Lawyer Association (STLA) responded to the measure through a news release that expressed concerns the move would add delays to “an already congested court system.”
“You take all the matters from one centre and you just dump it into another, on top of what’s already an existing busy schedule,” STLA president Jeffrey Deagle said in an interview Tuesday.
“You’re not opening up any more court times, you’re not opening up any more access to judges, you are simply adding more to the already existing queue that may be bulging at the seams in some locations.”
READ MORE: Sask. government told by OHS to halt plans to cut 14 deputy sheriffs
The Chief Judge regularly reviews the province’s judicial resources, according to a spokesperson for the Courts of Saskatchewan. A number of factors are taken into consideration, including the number of appearances at a certain location and how far a circuit court point is from the next closest court location.
However, the STLA said the four locations were chosen without consultation. Deagle said the move could cause “individuals a lot more hardship” if they wish to take certain legal action.
“If they want to bring a small claims action and they could easily do it because their court point was only a few minutes way, they may not want to do it anymore because now they have to go through the extra expense of going hours away,” Deagle said.
“I think in some ways it does a disservice to our system of justice because it doesn’t allow timely and effective access to all the rural people especially.”
READ MORE: Weyburn’s mayor concerned about office closures at courthouse
The STLA’s response to the closures came days after they were announced because the group was communicating with its broad membership in order to be “on a common front” before a statement was made, according to Deagle.
Watrous’ court has already completed its final sitting, while Carnduff is set to hold its last court day on Thursday. Big River and Southey’s circuit court points will close later this year.
